Don't like beer? Have some alternative hockey beverage options:

The Red Wings have joined forces with a college kid's two best friends - booze and caffeine. Granted #8 and #5's attachment is a little more classy than your average undergrad's method of indulging...

• Recent Hockey Hall of Fame Inductee and former Red Wing great #8 Igor Larionov spent this past Saturday at two metro Nino Salvaggio locations signing bottles of wine from his Triple Overtime line. Nino's is my favorite fruit market around so of course I had to drop in, buy a couple bottles, and chat (very) briefly with the Professor. The two I purchased, the Slapshot Shiraz and the Triple Overtime Sauvignon Blanc, both look delicious, and to top it off, Igor Larionov himself (who clearly has great taste!) complimented my haircut. And all around success, I'd say! For those who didn't get to make the event I took a few pictures that you can find here. Here's to hoping the Wings win the cup again so we can celebrate in style!

• Biggby Coffee, formerly Beaner's, which holds a dear place in my heart as the coffee shop I'd always stop at on my way in to my former job while in college at the bleary hour of 7 am (those were the days), has also decided to partner up with the Red Wings and offer a new "Number 5 Latte" in honor of the Wings' Nicklas Lidstrom. There's no word on what is actually in the drink - the closest Biggby comes to a description is the promise that "THIS ESPRESSO BASED DRINK WILL BE A SLAP SHOT TO YOUR TASTEBUDS" - but if you stop in to any Biggby location on a game day wearing Wings gear you can get a dollar off the "super cup size" and try it out for yourself! Coffee and hockey? How could it be bad?

This evening the Red Wings take on the Calgary Flames at home and hopefully the excitement of receiving their Cup Rings can inspire them to the sort of play we've come to expect - none of this come-from-behind high scoring games victory nonsense! (Although let's face it, I'll take a win however it comes.)

ATT <3s NHL

Inexplicably (but totally cool!) AT&T has decided that 2.5 million Oakland and Wayne County editions of the new AT&T Real Yellow Pages directory will feature the Detroit Red Wings on the cover. The shot of the team on the ice post-Cup victory, says the president of AT&T, is featured because, "It is our goal to keep our customers connected, but nothing connects communities like a championship team and we applaud the Wings for their accomplishment."

Cheesy, for sure, but it's certainly sort of neat to pick up the Yellow Pages and see the boys - and this time of year, it's the little things.

In honor of the recognition (or in recognition of the honor?) Wings grinder Darren McCarty was at Hockeytown Authentics signing autographs. Having missed him in Taylor and being in the area to begin with, I decided to stop by:

D-Mac, decked out in full support of Detroit and the Tigers (who would be playing across the street two hours from the end of the signing) - seemed like he was having a good time.

Freshly D-Mac-signed hat and the event-causing mini-phonebook.

Hockeytown Cafe was bustling (I proceeded to eat a panini - A+!) with the pre-Tigers game crowd, but McCarty - who looked like he was enjoying himself as much as someone writing their name for two hours straight could be, and who was very friendly - drew a fair amount of attention as well. The best thing about the event was that it was completely free, making it pretty irresistible after seeing prices charged at some other venues. The slight downside was that, compared to some other signings, the Cafe had only its own merchendise to work with, and thus your options for things to buy and get signed were a bit limited (they did, however, have the new red version of the Wings Locker Room hat - classy) - but most people (including me) had their own anyway. And hey, there was always the phone books!

D-Mac is back again!

Darren McCarty will be signing autographs at the Taylor Gibraltar Trade Center on Sunday June 15th from 1-3 pm! For those like me who watched him all through this season as he made his way back to the big leagues, this is awesome - except I have Tigers tickets that afternoon for a game that starts at 1 pm, so I'm not sure I'll be able to make it.

I saw Valtteri Filppula and Dan Cleary at Gibraltar last year, although it was at the Mt. Clemens location, and it was a blast. You're ushered through the line fairly quickly, but you get a minute or two to chat (or, in my case, poke fun at Jiri Hudler) with the players. One word of advice though - since this doesn't sound like it's an actual sports card show this time, look for something to get signed (there's a $30 fee per item) in advance, or your only options will likely be a choice between a couple 8x10 glossies - nice quality but not always the picture you might have chosen!

If anyone else happens to make it, be sure to let NPI know all about it (with pictures!)